mgo.licio.us

"The face of the operation is Briatore (referred to exclusively in the film by his colleagues and angry, chanting detractors as "Flavio"), an anthropomorphic radish who spends most of his time at QPR plotting to fire all of the managers."

At press time, Harbaugh had sent Michigan’s athletic department an envelope containing a heavily annotated seating chart, a list of the 63,000 seat views he had found unsatisfactory, and a glowing 70-page report on section 25, row 12, seat 9, which he claimed is “exactly what the great sport of football is all about.”

Big Ten 2010 Recruiting Class Rankings

Now that the 2010 classes are wrapped up in the Big Ten (pending final decisions from OH S Latwan Anderson and MN OL Seantrel Henderson), it's time to take the next natural step and decide who acquitted themselves well in college football's second season.

Big Ten Recruiting Class Rankings

Rank

School

# of Commits

Rivals Average*

Scout Average

ESPN Average

1

Penn State

20

5.76

3.85

78.45

2

Michigan

27

5.65

3.33

77.48

3

Ohio State

18

5.70

3.61

77.88

4

Notre Dame

23

5.70

3.17

76.09

5

Michigan State

21

5.62

3.10

73.10

6

Iowa

21

5.62

2.76

72.71

7

Wisconsin

24

5.54

2.79

71.38

8

Northwestern

17

5.57

2.65

73.65

9

Purdue

24

5.49

2.54

68.04

10

Illinois

20

5.48

2.45

67.20

11

Minnesota

25

5.51

2.28

65.56

12

Indiana

25

5.44

2.40

64.52

Yes, I'm well aware that Notre Dame isn't in the Big Ten, but there's enough interest in them as a regional rival that Michigan pays every year, that it's worthwhile to include them.

*(Rivals uses a five star system but also grades players on a finer scale that ranges from 6.1 to 5.2.)

The full data after the jump.

#1 Penn State - 20 Commits

Name

Position

Rivals

Scout

ESPN

Silas Redd

RB

6

5

79

Khairi Fortt

LB

6

4

81

MIke Hull

LB

5.9

5

78

Paul Jones

QB

5.9

5

78

Robert Bolden

QB

5.9

4

81

Miles Dieffenbach

OL

5.8

4

81

Dakota Royer

DE

5.8

4

81

CJ Olaniyan

DE

5.8

4

80

Alex Kenney

ATH

5.8

4

80

Kyle Baublitz

TE

5.8

4

79

Thomas Ricketts

OL

5.8

4

77

Zach Zwinak

RB

5.8

4

77

Evan Hailes

DT

5.7

4

81

Kevin Haplea

TE

5.7

4

78

Daquan Jones

OL

5.7

4

77

Luke Graham

OL

5.7

3

76

Shyquawn Pullium

Ath

5.6

3

74

Khamrone Kolb

OL

5.5

3

77

Levi Norwood

WR

5.5

3

77

Brad Bars

LB

5.4

2

77

Though they lost a big name or two (MD WR Adrian Coxson and NY DE Dominque Easely decommitted from PSU and ended up signing with Florida), the Nittany Lions still landed a nice-sized class with some top talent.

#2 Michigan - 27 Commits

Name

Position

Rivals

Scout

ESPN

Devin Gardner

QB

5.9

5

81

Cullen Christian

CB

5.9

4

79

Demar Dorsey

S

5.8

4

85

Marvin Robinson

S

5.8

4

79

Richard Ash

DT

5.8

3

77

Kenny Wilkins

DE

5.8

3

77

Ricardo Miller

WR

5.7

4

80

Josh Furman

LB

5.7

4

78

Jibreel Black

DT

5.7

4

78

Jerald Robinson

WR

5.7

4

77

Austin White

RB

5.7

4

77

Christian Pace

OL

5.7

3

79

Davion Rogers

DE

5.7

3

78

Carvin Johnson

S

5.7

3

76

Terry Talbott

DT

5.7

3

75

Jordan Paskorz

DE

5.6

3

78

Conelius Jones

QB

5.6

3

77

Jake Ryan

LB

5.6

3

77

Drew Dileo

WR

5.6

3

75

Jeremy Jackson

WR

5.5

3

79

Will Hagerup

P

5.5

3

79

Terrence Talbott

CB

5.5

3

78

Stephen Hopkins

RB

5.5

3

77

Antonio Kinard

LB

5.5

3

77

Courtney Avery

CB

5.5

3

73

DJ Williamson

WR

5.5

2

78

Ray Vinopal

S

5.4

3

68

Michigan's ranking is inflated by its size, but Devin Gardner, Cullen Christian, and Demar Dorsey are the highly-ranked headliners for a class that fills a lot of needs in ann Arbor.

#3 Ohio State - 18 Commits

Name

Position

Rivals

Scout

ESPN

Andrew Norwell

OL

5.9

5

80

Roderick Smith

RB

5.9

4

82

Corey Brown

RB

5.9

4

81

Christian Bryant

DB

5.9

4

78

James Louis

WR

5.8

4

81

Carlos Hyde

RB

5.8

4

79

Jamel Turner

DE

5.8

4

79

Taylor Graham

QB

5.8

3

74

Tyrone Williams

WR

5.7

4

79

Darryl Baldwin

DE

5.7

3

81

JT Moore

DE

5.6

4

78

Scott McVey

LB

5.6

4

77

David Durham

DE

5.6

3

79

Bradley Roby

WR

5.6

3

78

Verlon Reed

QB

5.6

3

68

Johnathon Hankins

DT

5.5

3

77

Chad Hagan

LB

5.5

3

75

Drew Basil

K

5.4

3

76

The Buckeyes struck out on a number of guys late (OH OL Matt James, OH LB Jordan Hicks, MN OL Seantrel Henderson - who may choose the Buckeyes yet), and they have a small class. However, with Tressel, quality can trump quantity.

#4 Notre Dame - 23 Commits

Name

Position

Rivals

Scout

ESPN

Louis Nix

DT

5.9

4

81

Matt James

OL

5.9

4

80

Tailer Jones

WR

5.8

4

81

Christian Lombard

OL

5.8

4

79

Alex Welch

TE

5.8

4

79

Andrew Hendrix

QB

5.8

3

80

Prince Shembo

LB

5.8

3

78

Danny Spond

Ath

5.8

3

78

Kendall Moore

LB

5.8

3

77

Cameron Roberson

RB

5.8

3

77

Kona Schwenke

DE

5.7

4

78

Chris Badger

DB

5.7

3

79

Spencer Boyd

DB

5.7

3

79

Tommy Rees

QB

5.7

3

79

Lo Wood

DB

5.7

3

78

Bennett Jackson

WR

5.7

3

77

Justin Utupo

DT

5.7

3

77

Luke Massa

QB

5.7

3

72

Daniel Smith

WR

5.6

3

78

Tate Nichols

OL

5.6

3

75

Austin Collinsworth

DB

5.5

3

74

Derek Roback

Ath

5.5

2

74

Bruce Heggie

TE

5.2

2

40

Brian Kelly had a pretty good February in his first year at Notre Dame, but a few recruits at the back end of the list really drag down average rating. It's still good enough to be one of the top classes.

#5 Michigan State - 21 Commits

Name

Position

Rivals

Scout

ESPN

William Gholston

DE

6.1

5

83

Max Bullough

LB

5.8

4

79

Mike Sadler

K

5.5

3

79

Skyler Schofner

OL

5.8

4

78

Mylan Hicks

DB

5.7

4

78

Keith Mumphery

ATH

5.7

3

78

Marcus Rush

DE

5.6

3

78

Tony Lippett

ATH

5.5

3

78

Joe Boisture

QB

5.8

3

77

Isaiah Lewis

DB

5.8

4

77

Travis Jackson

OL

5.7

3

77

Kurtis Drummond

ATH

5.6

3

77

Taylor Calero

DE

5.5

3

76

Justin Wilson

LB

5.5

3

76

Michael Dennis

OL

5.4

3

76

Nick Hill

RB

5.7

3

75

Jeremy Langford

ATH

5.6

3

71

Leveon Bell

RB

5.4

2

68

Anthony White

DT

5.6

2

40

Darqueze Dennard

DB

5.4

2

74

Niko Palazeti

FB

5.3

2

40

Outside of Gholston, this is a solid-not-great class for the Spartans. A couple of their guys might be slightly overrated (see: Boisture, Joe), but with continued on-field improvement, MSU has a chance to move up in the pecking order.

#6 Iowa - 21 Commits

Name

Position

Rivals

Scout

ESPN

CJ Fiedorowicz

TE

5.9

4

81

AJ Derby

ATH

5.8

3

80

Andrew Donnal

OL

5.8

4

79

Marcus Coker

RB

5.8

3

78

Don Shumpert

ATH

5.7

2

78

Anthony Ferguson

DT

5.7

3

77

Austin Gray

LB

5.7

3

77

Donavan Johnson

DT

5.7

3

76

Brandon Scherff

OL

5.7

3

76

Mike Hardy

DE

5.6

3

76

BJ Lowery

DB

5.6

3

76

Louis Trinca-Pasat

DE

5.6

3

76

Jim Poggi

LB

5.7

3

75

Carl Davis

DT

5.6

3

75

Kevonte Martin-Manley

WR

5.4

2

75

James Morris

LB

5.7

3

74

Austin Vier

ATH

5.4

2

74

DeAndre Johnson

RB

5.5

2

70

Christian Kirksey

ATH

5.6

2

40

Anthony Hitchens

RB

5.4

2

74

Tanner Miller

ATH

5.1

2

40

Fiedorowicz is a stud tight end, but the Hawkeyes will develop most of the guys they recruit, like usual.

#7 Wisconsin - 24 Commits

Name

Position

Rivals

Scout

ESPN

James C. White

RB

5.7

3

77

Michael Trotter

DB

5.7

3

74

Peniel Jean

DB

5.7

2

74

Beau Allen

DT

5.6

4

79

Frank Tamakloe

DB

5.6

3

79

Robby Havenstein

OL

5.6

3

78

Jeff Lewis

RB

5.6

3

77

Marquis Mason

TE

5.6

3

77

Konrad Zagzebski

DE

5.6

3

76

Bryce Gilbert

DT

5.6

3

74

Dallas Lewallen

OL

5.6

2

40

Joseph Brennan

QB

5.5

3

78

Manasseh Garner

ATH

5.5

3

78

Sherard Cadogan

TE

5.5

3

76

Josh Harrison

LB

5.5

3

76

Cody Byers

LB

5.5

3

75

Warren Herring

DE

5.5

3

75

Chase Hammond

WR

5.5

3

74

Jake Irwin

DE

5.5

3

40

Jameson Wright

DB

5.5

2

77

Isaiah Williams

ATH

5.5

2

75

Joe McNamara

OL

5.4

3

76

Cameron Ontko

LB

5.4

2

68

Kyle Costigan

OL

5.3

2

40

Middling class for the Badgers, heavy on linemen.

#8 Northwestern - 17 Commits

Name

Position

Rivals

Scout

ESPN

Kain Colter

ATH

5.7

3

77

Rashad Lawrence

WR

5.7

3

73

Brandon Vitabile

OL

5.7

3

40

Paul Jorgenson

OL

5.6

3

79

Trevor Siemian

QB

5.6

3

79

Chance Carter

DE

5.6

3

78

Ibraheim Campbell

DB

5.6

3

75

Chichi Ariguzo

LB

5.6

3

74

Jimmy Hall

WR

5.6

2

75

Venric Mark

ATH

5.6

2

73

Will Hampton

DT

5.5

3

77

Tony Jones

WR

5.5

3

77

Adonis Smith

RB

5.5

3

74

Sean McEvilly

OL

5.5

2

78

Collin Ellis

LB

5.5

2

77

CJ Bryant

DB

5.5

2

73

Daniel Jones

DB

5.4

2

73

Small class for Northwestern, and they lost a commit in the final weeks of the recruiting season, too.

#9 Purdue - 24 Commits

Name

Position

Rivals

Scout

ESPN

OJ Ross

WR

5.8

3

80

Sean Robinson

QB

5.7

3

78

Ricardo Allen

DB

5.7

3

76

Bruce Gaston

DT

5.7

3

76

Jack DeBoef

OL

5.6

3

78

Joe Gilliam

LB

5.6

3

77

Ryan Isaac

DE

5.6

3

76

EJ Johnson

DB

5.6

3

73

Rashad Frazier

DE

5.6

3

40

Charles Torwudzo

WR

5.6

2

74

Michael Eargle

DB

5.6

2

40

Antoine Lewis

DB

5.5

3

76

Will Lucas

LB

5.5

3

75

Chevin Davis

WR

5.5

2

76

Josh Davis

DT

5.4

3

75

DeRon Flood

TE

5.4

3

74

Mike Lee

LB

5.4

2

78

Reggie Pegram

RB

5.4

2

73

Ryan Russell

ATH

5.4

2

40

Justin Sinz

ATH

5.3

2

76

Cody Webster

K

5.3

2

73

Normando Harris

DB

5.3

2

40

Jesse Schmitt

OL

5.2

2

69

Jonathan Linkenheimer

K

5.1

2

40

OJ Ross is a coup for the Boilermakers, but they need more than one.

#10 Illinois - 20 Commits

Name

Position

Rivals

Scout

ESPN

Chandler Whitmer

QB

5.8

4

78

Darius Millines

WR

5.7

3

80

Earnest Thomas

DB

5.7

3

74

Jonathan Brown

LB

5.6

3

78

Shawn Afryl

OL

5.6

3

70

Mark Wilson

LB

5.5

3

76

Michael Heitz

OL

5.5

3

74

Alex Hill

OL

5.5

3

74

Ryan Lankford

WR

5.5

2

78

Miles Osei

QB

5.5

2

76

Evan Wilson

TE

5.5

2

70

Brandon Denmark

DE

5.5

2

40

Spencer Harris

WR

5.4

2

70

AJ Williams

WR

5.4

2

70

Austin Teitsma

DE

5.4

2

69

Trulon Henry

DB

5.4

2

40

Ean Days

DB

5.3

2

74

Simon Cvijanovic

OL

5.3

2

73

Jake Howe

RB

5.3

2

40

Jay Prosch

RB

5.2

2

40

I would say "wow, this class is terrible (especially for Zook)," but that honor is reserved for his fellow "outstanding recruiter" below.

#11 Minnesota - 25 Commits

Name

Position

Rivals

Scout

ESPN

Jimmy Gjere

OL

5.8

4

78

Lamonte Edwards

ATH

5.8

3

76

Tom Parish

QB

5.7

3

73

James Manuel

DB

5.6

3

78

Marquise Hill

ATH

5.6

3

76

Marek Lenkiewicz

OL

5.6

3

75

Donnell Kirkwood

RB

5.6

2

77

Brock Vereen

DB

5.6

2

76

Johnathan Ragoo

OL

5.6

2

75

Josh Tauaefa

DT

5.6

2

72

Herschel Thornton

DB

5.6

2

40

Christyn Lewis

DB

5.6

2

40

Devon Wright

RB

5.5

2

79

Tyrone Bouie

DB

5.5

2

77

Matt Eggen

OL

5.5

2

76

Willie Tatum

LB

5.5

2

76

Harold Legania

DT

5.5

2

75

Zac Epping

OL

5.5

2

73

Tiree Eure

TE

5.5

2

40

Sean Ferguson

DT

5.5

2

40

Dwayne Mitchell

LB

5.4

2

76

Ben Perry

DE

5.3

2

40

Logan Hutton

WR

5.2

2

40

Dwight Tillman

DB

5.2

2

40

JD Pride

QB

5.1

2

71

Wow, this class is terrible. Brewster is supposed to be an outstanding recruiter... and this is what he comes up with? Minnesota suffered through approximately 7,000 decommitments this year, and this class is a huge disappointment.

The first chart only shows average stars/scores/whatever metrics per recruit. Team rankings also have to factor in class size. So, even though OSU had better recruits on average, the sheer size of Michigan's class causes it to be generally considered superior to OSU's.

It's because our class is so much bigger than all other classes. The Bucks only had 18 commits to our 28. Obviously if we sign more guys we will not have as high of an average, or if we did we would have a monster class. If we took of the bottom 10 rated guys, our average would be higher.

A lot of people seem to see Michigan's class as "overrated" because it is quantity or quality (i.e., UM's class is bigger, but OSU has a higher avg. star).

That type of overrated comment is filled with ignorance. If OSU's class had 10 more players, their star ranking would drop. There are only a small number of 4 and 5 star recruits, so it would HAVE to drop barring something crazy. The same is true for everyone.

That is one of the reasons sites take size into account. It is imporant because the higher the class size, the more likely the avg star rating will be forced down.

Michigan did a great job recruiting after two losing seasons. Plus, this class is so fast that once they add some girth (easy to do) they could be scary good.

I assume that's Jordan Norwood's little brother? Interesting that PSU said, "Sorry, you have to go somewhere else now" to the universally-praised Adrian Coxson, but took a kid with lesser guru ratings across the board.

I guess they are banking on Levi being as good as his brother.

"The difference between a man and a boy is, a boy wants to grow up to be a fireman, but a man wants to grow up to be a giant monster fireman."

1 - You know it's bad for Illinois if their third rated recruit in the whole class apparently couldn't get an offer from UM or MSU.

2 - Let's keep an eye on Andre Kates from Indiana. Rivals gives him the same rating as Ricardo Miller, Jibreel Black, and Josh Furman, Scout gives him 2 stars and ESPN gives him a 40. Something has to give.

We're 4th in the Rivals rankings, 3rd in the Scout rankings, and 3rd in the ESPN ratings, but somehow, we move ourselves into 2nd on the rankings because of class size? I fail to see the logic in taking quantity over quality if we're using the rankings of the recruiting sites to establish some sort of pecking order than ignoring it to put us into second place.

Someone explain this to me. I'm not down on the class or any of the recruits, but are we saying we're second based on the evidence given in the chart or because we know we've addressed needs on the team that will bolster our team going forward?

Here's the logic. Yes, 20 4 and 5 star guys is likely to give you more All Big-10 caliber players than 30 3 star guys. However, 30 guys ranging between 3 and 5 stars is likely to give you more All Big-10 caliber players than 20 players between 3 and 5 stars, even if on average, the class of 20 is slightly higher rated.

Edit: I'm not saying that Michigan is or is not ranked appropriately. I am only pointing out that using average recruit ranking as the ONLY measure is as foolish as ignoring average recruit ranking all together. As we all know, Mike Hart was a 3-star recruit and he far exceeded expectations. If you have 10 3 star guys compared to 5 3-star guys, it stands to reason that the larger class is more likely to find that diamond in the rough.